TyKiah Wright, Founder/CEO of WrightChoice, Inc., is a thought leader, trail blazer and advocate who is committed to diversity and developing the next generation workforce through internship placement and professional development training. TyKiah consults with companies nationally on “disability-inclusive” diversity strategies and recently released the Inaugural Edition of DiversAbility Ohio Publications – Celebrating the Leadership and Accomplishments of Professionals with Disabilities. She travels nationally educating, motivating and inspiring audiences from corporate to non-profit. TyKiah frequently speaks on college campuses. For more than ten years TyKiah has been at the helm of one of the nation’s top non-profit organizations in the area of internships for minorities and people with disabilities. Ms. Wright holds two degrees from Wright State University--a B.S.in Human Resources Management and a Masters in Business Administration. She understands the needs of businesses and students alike, and has committed her organization to recruiting, developing and linking the members of tomorrow’s workforce to today’s opportunities.

7 lies young people hear about the ‘real world’

Try showing that ‘certificate of participation’ at your first job interview, and see how much weight it carries. The truth? Honesty is a must, perfection is a myth, and failure is your frienShar

American college students have been trained from an alarmingly young age to believe that as long as they show up, they should be rewarded—and that is lulling them into a false sense of security.

After all, simply being there isn’t the same as contributing, and participating isn’t the same as succeeding. No one will be rewarded for just showing up in the real world.

Success isn’t found inside a rubric. It certainly isn’t something achieved without a few experiments, mistakes, and failures along the way. Here are seven common lies that young people hear growing up—and the blunt, uncensored truths behind them:

1. You’re amazing at everything you do.

Any 5-year-old will tell you it’s not polite to hurt a person’s feelings. Instead, society sells us a lie, because apparently it’s better to tell someone she’s great than tell the truth when she isn’t. We think we’ll stunt growth if we tell the cold truth; in reality, we’re stunting growth by handing everyone a participation trophy instead of rewarding real talent and achievement.

Beyond that, it’s much more traumatic when, after 20-something years, someone finally tells you that you’re not as amazing as you thought. Here’s an example: I teach college, and after completing their first college-level course, many students tell me, “This is the first C I’ve ever gotten.” My response? “Welcome to college.” Why? An A isn’t something that you’re entitled to; it’s something you earn.

2. You have to be perfect.

Failure is a great teacher. You don’t learn anything if you go through life being told you’re perfect. Writer and director Kevin Smith put it best when he said, “The truth is…failure is success training.”

So you don’t have a 4.0? That’s OK. Don’t have a job lined up right after graduation? That’s OK, too. You don’t need a perfect track record, grade point average, or plan to make a good career and life for yourself. You just need the perseverance, bravery, and grit to forge a path for yourself.

3. You have to be married before you’re 30.

College isn’t for everyone. Neither is marriage. Need proof? Just look at the divorce rate. There’s a lot of societal pressure to find the perfect person to spend your life with by a certain age. It’s completely arbitrary—and for a lot of people, it’s completely wrong.

Don’t force it. Don’t stress. And don’t buy into the myth; not everyone is ready for marriage by age 30.

4. You’ll succeed only if you go to the right college.

Success comes from all walks of life. Today, there’s unbelievable pressure on students to get admitted to their first-choice college. Give yourself a little more credit. It might require some work, but you can succeed in all different kinds of environments.

Some of the most valuable lessons are learned outside the classroom. Before you graduate, get involved, intern, study abroad, and network. Employers are looking for students who did more than just sit through four years of classes.

6. Your first job defines your career.

College graduates often buy into the “perfect first job” myth. They think they need to be in the right place at the right time right after graduation. That isn’t true.

My first job was pushing carts at Walmart. Skills and lessons are transferable, especially the ones you learn during your first job out of college. Those lessons will get you all kinds of places—including your dream job.

7. You’ll be in a better financial place than your parents—immediately.

Many millennials are incredibly sheltered. Some don’t even know what their parents do; they think the money just shows up. When you begin your career, you’ll have to work hard. You’ll have to put in time and pay your dues.

Don’t expect to live the same lifestyle that took your parents 20 years to achieve. Make peace now with the fact that the Baby Boomers have gobbled everything up from the table and you are now on your own to thrive.

Find your own truth

Society, peer groups and the media may have good intentions, but they often reinforce these seven lies.

To find your own truth, challenge everything. Ask hard questions. Demand—and give—honest answers. And don’t be afraid to fail. The best life lessons are learned through mistakes and imperfections, getting you closer to success than any participation trophy ever will.

In 2015 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turns 25. How will YOU celebrate this milestone and honor this significant civil rights victory for Americans with disabilities?

Advocates across the country have begun to plan ADA25 in their neighborhoods, cities, and states. We'd like to keep everyone connected and informed. Share ideas, post your events, tell us your stories, etc. Here are some places to start:

Connect with your local ADA center! The ADA National Network has 10 regional centers around the country. Every state is covered by one of the centers. The centers have agreed to serve as hubs for ADA25 planning in their particular regions. They will host conference calls so that everyone can share ideas, resources, etc. Click here to find out where your regional center is and how to connect with them!

Find great resources! The ADA National Network also offers an online tool kit full of resources for planning and celebrating the ADA's anniversary. Visit the website to find sample press releases, videos, monthly themes, an e-postcard, and more!

Use the ADA25 logo! Our vibrant ADA25 logo (shown above) is already in use across the country. Show your connection to the larger ADA25 community. Incorporate the logo into your events and promotional materials.

Use our ADA25 media kit! We would love to have a consistent look and messaging for ADA25 events across the country, so feel free to use the ADA25 logo, slogan, and other resources. Get them here! (coming soon)

Make the most of social media! Use #ADA25, #ADALegacyTour, and #ADALegacy in your posts. Share ideas and stories on our Facebook page andTwitter feed. Post photos on Instagram. Help us all stay connected!

Post your events! We want to maintain a database of all ADA25 activities and events around the country. We offer a map where folks can click on their particular state and find out what is happening around them. Once your plans are in place, click here to submit your event! (coming soon)

Follow The ADA Legacy Tour! One of the ways we are raising awareness about and celebrating ADA25 is through The ADA Legacy Tour, a traveling exhibit that will crisscross the country from July 25, 2014 - July 31, 2015. Click here to check the Tour schedule and see when it will be close to you!

Many students -- especially those who do not have a family member who has been to college -- think college is pretty much like high school, only bigger. But there are some very big differences. Many students who did not do well in high school "blossom" in college. Others never get used to college life and do not do as well as they did in high school. Much of how college will differ depends on you.

To be prepared, it helps you to know what differences lie ahead. Though academic requirements and student life vary depending on the college you attend, there are basic differences that apply in almost every case. Here are some ways you can expect college to be different from high school:

DIFFERENT TREATMENTBecause you will probably be over 18 years old in college, you will be treated like an adult. This is because you will be an adult. As an adult, you will have to make sure you do what you're supposed to do, you will be responsible for the way you live, and you will have to meet greater expectations from others.

DIFFERENT STRUCTUREGenerally, there are fewer rules and regulations imposed by others in college. You will be expected to make and stick to your own schedule, as well as keep up on all your work. Most professors do not take attendance in class -- they expect you to be there to learn. And whether or not you learn is your responsibility. Many students, after a brief period of adjustment, will settle into a balanced lifestyle of work and play. Those who don't usually do not make it through their first year.

DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITYIn college, you will take on more responsibility for your decisions, actions, and lifestyle. This is part of being on your own. Professors and administrators will probably not give you a hard time about your clothes, your hair, or your general behavior (within bounds). But do be prepared to be held accountable for your behavior. There is no one to blame for not waking up on time, not eating properly, or not washing your clothes.

DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS People will expect more of you and expect you to develop in your own unique way in college. In high school, you are often expected to behave or perform to a minimum standard. Some people will expect you to go beyond minimal performance in college, so you can grow and develop as a person. You will also begin to realize what a great effect you can have -- both positive and negative -- on yourself, on others, and on the world around you. This can be both exciting and frightening.

DIFFERENT ACADEMIC SUBJECTSIn college, you will be free to explore numerous paths and interests that were simply not open to you in high school. There are more foreign languages, arts, and sciences offered in college. Subjects like philosophy and religion also are taught at college but probably not in high school.

DIFFERENT WAY OF TEACHINGSome subjects are taught differently in college. In high school, for instance, history may have been mainly names, dates, and places. You had to memorize facts and figures. In college, those facts are not nearly as important as why certain events and actions happened. In college English, less time may be spent on grammar and spelling (it is assumed you have mastered these) and more on writing creatively and criticizing literature. If you major in one of the sciences, you will find that in your junior and senior years, you may be designing your own experiments rather than doing exactly what everyone else in your class is doing. In foreign languages, you will be reading literature in its original language rather than just repeating phrases. And you may be able to work and study in another country for a semester or year.

Be open to falling in love with a subject in college that you may have disliked in high school. Two-thirds of college students graduate with a different major than the one they had in mind when they started -- often because they found an old subject taught in a new and more interesting way.

DIFFERENT WAY OF LEARNINGMany classes will be organized differently from the traditional high school lecture class. Some will be big lecture classes followed by small discussion groups. Some professors will have you read books, write papers, and discuss both in class. You may even have the chance to read independently with a professor or design your own research projects. Grading will be different, too. In some classes, you will have nothing but essay tests. In others, your entire grade will be determined by a single large paper or project. You may even have classes in which a group project is the primary grade.

DIFFERENT LEVEL OF COMPETITIONIn high school, you are often graded on whether or not you learn certain things. For example, there are standardized tests given to show that you have achieved a minimum level in certain subjects. In college, you are often graded "on the curve;" your grade is determined more by how well you did in relation to your classmates than on a minimum knowledge base. This means there is more one-on-one competition between students. For example, receiving an 85 percent on a test in high school may have automatically been a B. In college, if most people did better than that, it could be a C or C-.

You may have been in the top 10 or 15 percent of your high school class, but at college most of your fellow students were also in the top 10 or 15 percent of their high school classes. You may have found it easy to make a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average in high school. Earning a 3.5 in college will take much more effort.

DIFFERENT DAY TO DAYHigh school is a place you go to seven or eight hours a day, less than half the days of the year. Many colleges are set up to be your home -- you will eat and sleep there, spend time off there, make new friends there, even do your laundry there. Therefore, chances are good that college will have an even greater effect on you than high school did. In fact, it will be a time in your life like no other.

OFCCP Final Rule to Improve Job Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities

On August 27, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced a Final Rule that makes changes to the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Section 503) at 41 CFR Part 60-741. Section 503 prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment against individuals with disabilities (IWDs), and requires these employers to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain these individuals. The Final Rule strengthens the affirmative action provisions of the regulations to aid contractors in their efforts to recruit and hire IWDs, and improve job opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The Final Rule also makes changes to the nondiscrimination provisions of the regulations to bring them into compliance with the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2013, and becomes effective on March 24, 2014. However, current contractors with a written affirmative action program (AAP) already in place on the effective date have additional time to come into compliance with the AAP requirements. The compliance structure seeks to provide contractors the opportunity to maintain their current AAP cycle.

Highlights of the Final Rule:

Utilization goal: The Final Rule establishes a nationwide 7% utilization goal for qualified IWDs. Contractors will apply the goal to each of their job groups, or to their entire workforce if the contractor has 100 or fewer employees. Contractors must conduct an annual utilization analysis and assessment of problem areas, and establish specific action-oriented programs to address any identified problems.

Data collection: The Final Rule requires that contractors document and update annually several quantitative comparisons for the number of IWDs who apply for jobs and the number of IWDs they hire. Having this data will assist contractors in measuring the effectiveness of their outreach and recruitment efforts. The data must be maintained for three years to be used to spot trends.

Invitation to Self-Identify: The Final Rule requires that contractors invite applicants to self-identify as IWDs at both the pre-offer and post-offer phases of the application process, using language prescribed by OFCCP. The Final Rule also requires that contractors invite their employees to self-identify as IWDs every five years, using the prescribed language. This language will be posted on the OFCCP website (coming soon).

Incorporation of the EO Clause: The Final Rule requires that specific language be used when incorporating the equal opportunity clause into a subcontract by reference. The mandated language, though brief, will alert subcontractors to their responsibilities as Federal contractors.

Records Access: The Final Rule clarifies that contractors must allow OFCCP to review documents related to a compliance check or focused review, either on-site or off-site, at OFCCP’s option. In addition, the Final Rule requires contractors, upon request, to inform OFCCP of all formats in which it maintains its records and provide them to OFCCP in whichever of those formats OFCCP requests.

ADAAA: The Final Rule implements changes necessitated by the passage of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 by revising the definition of "disability" and certain nondiscrimination provisions of the implementing regulations.

DETROIT -- Recent college graduates are seeing better job prospects as they enter the labor market, although it's less encouraging for those who hold MBAs and other advanced degrees, according to an annual national survey of employers conducted by Michigan State University.

This year's Recruiting Trends report, being released Wednesday, shows an almost 10% increase in the number of employers planning to hire college graduates with a bachelor's degree. It also found a 2% increase in hiring plans for all areas, said Phil Gardner, the director of MSU's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

"This is the fourth year in a row we've seen an overall expansion of labor market," he said. "We're inching our way back to where we were in 2007. We're beginning to get some momentum."

The report surveyed thousands of employers across the U.S. to ask about their hiring plans for the coming year.

The Central Midwest — which includes Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana — shows 1% growth in bachelor's degree hires, but falls to a 2% decrease overall. The Mountain West leads the nation, with a 1% increase overall and a 5% growth in bachelor's degrees.

Dragging down the overall number is a lack of hiring plans for those with MBAs and other advanced degrees, which is related to softness in the financial services market, Gardner said.

"The market for new MBAs has been hit hard," the report said. "Since January, finance institutions have been shedding jobs by the thousands and curtailing hiring targets for new graduates. The total contraction in the market for new MBAs will approach 25%."

The report found strong demand for accounting, marketing, computer science, engineering, human resources and public relations.

MSU senior Shannon Gillespie, 21, already has a job lined up at Target's headquarters in Minneapolis when she graduates in May.

The apparel and textile design major, who had an internship at the headquarters last summer, will be in charge of coordinating some inventory to stores when she starts her full-time job in August.

Her secret to success? "Network, network, network," she said. "You have to put yourself out there and talk to people."

The report calls the increase in hiring steady but said it could be better and notes that financial services — which led recovery in the college labor market for the last two years — deeply retrenched this year. Without that sector in the calculations, the market for new bachelor's degrees would see double-digit gains, according to the report.

"The bachelor's labor market continues to improve — that's the good news throughout the regions," the report said. "The rate of growth, however, remains modest. We need hiring to gain traction and pull forward strongly. At present, none of the regions appear poised to lead the way."

Gardner also sounded a note of caution, saying it appears some of the jobs might dry up as the year goes on.

"Students have to be engaged in the market early," he said.

That's what Gillespie did.

"I think it's the first time in four years I've been able to relax and enjoy being here at school," she said.

For years employers have been working to better understand how to hire, train and employ young workers known as Generation Y.

But just when they thought they may be making some headway in understanding how best to develop and harness these young employees, along comes Generation Z. Its members are expected to turn the workplace upside down.

Born in the decade from 1990 to 1999, statistics show this generation is already nearly 7% of the American workforce, 11 million people. By 2019, 30 million of them are expected to be employed.

Bruce Tulgan, founder of Rainmaker Thinking, has been studying young people for two decades, and says the Great Recession somewhat muted the effects of Generation Y because the economic doldrums kept many of them from getting jobs and replacing baby boomers.

But as the economy improves and baby boomers decide to retire, Generation Z will lead to profound changes in the workplace, he says. (Tulgan contends that the oft-cited "millenial" generation is really two generations, Generation Y and Generation Z.)

"Generation Z grew up with great uncertainty. They grew up in times of war, and it's much different than Generation Y that grew up with peace and prosperity," he says. "They've come out with radically different prospects of what they need to do in their work lives."

Based on in-depth interviews with young people, Tulgan has put together research that shows Generation Z, whose oldest members are just graduating from college, "grew up way too fast and never grew up at all."

Because they're able to connect with any information at any time via smartphones and other devices, Generation Z never lacks for a constant stream of data. Generations before them might not have been exposed to this information until adulthood or had it filtered from other sources.

But Generation Z's interpersonal skills often are lacking, and they may not have basic manners that were ingrained in other generations at a young age, he says.

The oldest of Generation Z are 23 now, but in the coming years you'll find more and more in the workforce.(Photo: Stockbyte, Getty Images)

"They have tremendous energy and enthusiasm, but there's a big gap in the old-fashioned basics like personal responsibility and work habits," Tulgan says.

Employers need to understand what they will be facing with Generation Z so managers can tap their intelligence and provide the support these young workers going to need as an entire generation.

"It's a mistake for employers to say they'll just find one of the good ones," he says. "You can't hire your way out of the issues you'll be facing. They're good workers but high maintenance."

Just what will employers need to do to bring along this next generation of workers? Tulgan suggests the following:

• Focus on high-intensity relationships. Members of this generation react best to small, highly defined work groups with a strong peer leader.

They need a well-defined chain of command and a leader that has a teaching style.

It is an awesome thing to see your vision play out in the lives of young people! Mr. Stephen Parish shares his story...

Just a year ago, I was a finance major at Kent State University on pace to graduate a semester earlier than initially anticipated. At that point, the keyword for me was “internship”. So, at the start of my junior year, I landed an internship with a non-profit, small business development firm, but that experience showed me what I did not want to do. My academic advisor, Katrina Palmer, recommended WrightChoice, Inc. (WC) a program that she was a part 7 years ago. With the assistance of WC, I landed my first corporate internship at Battelle. Without their assistance, I would’ve been just another number.

My experience at Battelle last summer was extremely different from my previous internship. My projects more hands on, I had more responsibility and it was cool being treated as a regular full-time employee. Being pleased with my performance, my manager told me that if a position was available once I graduated, I would be at the top of her list. Just to know that I was good enough for a corporate career was a confidence booster. As my final semester quickly came to an end, I received the news that all graduates wait for – Battelle offered me a job!

Currently, I work as an Associate Pricing Analyst at Battelle. Getting this job straight out of college not only boosted my confidence but helped me to realize that we don’t get to where we are on our own, we need people to help us along the way – Thank you Ms. Katrina and my WrightChoice family.

The unemployment rate among Americans with disabilities increased significantly in January, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.

Statistics indicate that the jobless rate jumped to 13.7 percent last month for people with disabilities, a steep rise over the 11.7 percent unemployment rate reported for the final month of 2012.

Multiple factors appear to have contributed to the growth in individuals with disabilities without jobs in January. Not only were there more without jobs, but the number of people seeking work also grew, according to Labor Department data.

Despite the glum picture for Americans with disabilities, the employment situation was little changed for the general population. Statistics show that the economy added 157,000 jobs in January but the unemployment rate was relatively stable at 7.9 percent.

The Labor Department began tracking employment among people with disabilities in October 2008. There is not yet enough data compiled to establish seasonal trends among this population, so statistics for this group are not seasonally adjusted.

Data on people with disabilities covers those over the age of 16 who do not live in institutions. The first employment report specific to this population was made available in February 2009. Now, reports are released monthly.